Apparatus for opening packs.



0. W. BRAY. APPARATUS FOR OPENING PACKS.

APYLIGATION FILED JAN. 30,1908.

997,958, Patnted July 18, 1911.

3 SHEETSSHEET 1 V WITN/ESSES I R Q V amma m mm G. W. BRAY.

APPARATUS FOR OPENING PACKS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. so, 1908.

997,958, PatentedJuly 18,1911.

3 SHEBT$SHEET 2.

WITNESSES INVENTOR x/MMWW t am i Aw C. W. BRAY.

APPARATUS FOR OPENING PACKS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.30,190B.

997,958. Patented July 18,1911.

3 SHEETS*SHEET 3.

WITNESSES INVENTOR \u ga m iw, f k 2 m am cnannnsw. sitar, ofrxrrszeuna: PENNSYLVANIA; As'srenon :ro AMERICAN snare mmirnmrn commit, or rrrrsnnm rnnnsnvnnu; a oonrona rmn. or nnw'r To'aZl if Be'it known thatI, CHARLES W. BRAY, of

Pittsbui'g, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania,

havefinvented' anew and useful Apparatus for' OpeningPacks, of which. the following is afull, clear, and-exactdesc'ription, reference being-had to the-accompanying drawings, framing part of this specification, in

- whi'ch- Figure li's a plan View showing one em.- bo'dimenflof my' invention; Fig. 2 is a side. view of; the s'ame; Fig. 3 is an end elevation; and Fig! 4 is a detail view .of the crimping die blocks.

My""vention relation to apparatus for'op'ening-sheefiimetal packs, and is desi ed to provide apparatus of simple and e cient-character' whereby packs may be rapidly: opened.

- The precise nature of my'invention will be best understood by: reference to the accompanying-drawings in which I have shown-one embodiment thereof, it being premised, however, that various changes may. be 'made'therein by those skilledin the art without departing from the spirit and scope ofmy invention as set forth in the appended Referring-to the" drawings, the numeral des' ates the" "frame of the machine.

3 J ourna ed; in the side-portions thereof at' one end area-pair offeed-in rollers 3 and "4 f"The"r'oller" 3"is preferably carried in boxesj5 which are Vertically movable in guides 6 of'theframe and is held in yielding contact with'the roller 4 by means of the-adjustable spring 7.

' 8 aiid-9 designatea pair of vertically movablev crimping *or "corrugating die blocks which are mounted in suitable guide-ways 10"andiwhich are arranged to be re'cipro- P cate'd toward and away from each other. The working facesof these die blocks are corrugatedas'snowa at llfthe corrugations being arranged to meet on =the,dotted line a'-a"f(see' F' These diel blocks" are Specification of L etters Patent. PatentedJu1y-18 1911, Application filed Januar 30, 1908.. serial-in. 413,403.

which'are carried by shafts 16." The eccentries 14 and links 12 actuate the upper crimping dieblock, while the links 13 and] eccentrics 15 actuate-the lower crimping die block. The two shafts 16 are journaled side by side in the lower portion of the machine, one of them being driven by a spur wheel 17 thereon which meshes with a spur wheel 18 on a driving shaft 19, while the other is driven by a spur wheel 20 which meshes with a second spur wheel 21 on theshaft 19.

22 and 22 designate a air of flattening rollers which are ournaled -at the rear of the crimping die blocks, the upper roller 22 being mounted in vertically-movable bearings 24-having the spring adjustment 25. The

feed-in rollers 3 and 4 are driven by .a step by step movement which is'imparted by a pawl 26 which engages the teeth of a ratchet Wheel 27 secured on the shaft of the roller 4 and actuated by a pitman connection 28 with a crank pin 29 of a-crank disk 30 which is secured to the front shaft 16. The shaft of the roller '4 at its opposite end carries ,a

the spur wheel 34 is a ratchet wheel 35 which is enga ed by a pawl 36. The'pawl 36 is actuate by a pitman connection 37 with a crank pin 38 of a'disk onthe rearshaft 16.

Journaled behind at fiattening rollers .22 and 22 are a pair of shafts 39 and 40, said,

shaftsbeing arranged one above the other and positively intergeared by means ofthe pinion 31 which meshes with a pinion 32 on the shaft of-the upper roller 3. The two.

spur wheels 41-and 42. Arranged on each of-these shafts area series of beater arms 43 which are preferably in the form of fiat blades which extend through theshafts'so- V as-to project at opposite sides thereof. The

upper beater shaft- 39 has tin-extension at i ley's and:

pulley 46k" pulleys 44 and 45 and which are themsclvet driven by a belt pulley 49 on the short shaft 50 which is driven by a pinion 51 engaging a gear wheel 52 on the front shaft 16. V

53 and 5.4 designate a pair of feed-out rollers, which, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, are provided with interfitting circumfercn tial ribs and grooves. The upper roller is normally held in contact with the lower roller 54- by means of the springs 55 which are seated upon the vertically movable boxes in which said roller is journaled, and which are adjustable by means of the screws 56.

57 are guides through which the packs are fed to the feed-in rollers 3 and 4: and to the crimping die blocks.

58 are guides which carry the pack from the flattening rollers through the beater and to the feed-out rollers.

The rollers 3 and 4 are circumferentially grooved to receive the guides 57, as shown in Fig. 1.

Connected to an extended journal of the upper feed-out roller 53 is a bell crank lever 59 which is pivoted at 60 and whose upwardly extending arm is connected by the link 61 with one arm of a vertically pivoted bell crank lever (32. The other arm of this bell crank lever is connected by a link 63 with a belt shifting lever 64 on the shaft 64%", this shaft also having a lever 64 to which the belt shifting arm 65 is connected.

The operation of the machine is as follows :-The packs to be opened are fed into the machine through the guides 57 and the feed rollers 3 and 4. These rollers are actuated by a step by step movement through the pawl and ratchet actuating device before described so that the pack is gradually fed between the crimping die blocks and receives a succession of crimps'or corrugations therein as it is fed. forward and into the flattening rollers. As the die blocks will act alternately upon the high and low portions of the previous corrugations as the packs are fed forwardly, the bending action is in reverse directions, and is very effective in loosening the packs. These flattening rollers are also actuated by a step by step movement. and feed the pack onto the action of the heaters. The crimping or corrugating of-the pack by the die blocks tends to loosen and separate them and this action is completed by the revolving heaters working against the upper and lower sheets of the pack. As the loosened packs pass out between the teedout rollers, they raise the upper roller in its bearings, and therel'iy actuate the belt shifter through the connections described to shift the belts 4t? and it-8 of the pulleys 4A, 45 and at on the upperbeater shaft. \Vhile the packs are passing through the heaters, the crossed belt 47 is driving the pulley 44c and thereby actuating the beaten .so that they act upon the anzks in the dircw tion o't movement of the packs. ll hcn,

however,- the pack reaches the rollers 53 and 54 and the belt. shii'tcr is operated in the manner described, the stra' belt 48 is shifted on to the fast oullcy-la and. the cross belt at? shifted on to the loose pulley 4:6. This reverses the action of the boaters so that they turn in a. reverse direction to the movement of the packs. The purpose of this reversal of the heaters is to prevent their contacting with the ends of the sheets in the direction in which the sheets are going and thereby curling or kinking them. By causing them to act in a reverse direction upon the ends of the sheets, they exert a straightening action upon the sheets which tends to prevent any kinking'or curling of their edge The advantages of my invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The packs can be rapidly fed into and through the machine, and under the combined action of the crimping or'corrugating die blocks and of the boaters, the sheets are effectively loosened and opened.

'I do not herein claim broadly the feature of the rotary heaters, as these are the in vention of Arthur R. McArthur, as described and claimed in his Patent No. 976,895, dated Nov. 29, 1910.

What I claim is 1. In apparatus for opening packs, means for crimping the packs, consisting of a pair of die blocks having corrugated working faces, and means for reciprocating at least one of said blocks toward and away from the other, and mechanism for feeding a pack of metal sheets to the action of the die blocks; substantially as described.

52. In apparatus for opening packs, means for crimping the packs, consisting of a pair of die blocks having corrugated working faces, and means for reciprocating the blocks toward and away from each other, and mechanism for feeding a pack of metal sheets to the corrugating action of the blocks or dies; substantially as described.

3. In apgjiaratus for opening packs, means for crimping the packs consisting of a pair of die blocks having corrugated working faces, and means for reciprocating the die blocks toward and away from each other, and mechanism for feeding a pack of metal sheets to the crimping action. of the die blocks by a step by step movement; sub-- stantially as descr bed.

t. In apparatus opening packs, means for crimping or corrugating a pack. lDQllilQl'fS arranged actupon th crimpen or corrngated pack, a pair of (tout rollers and meansactuated by the pa: ige of the sheets thr: .igh the teedrout rollers for reversing the direction of movement of the heaters; substantially described.

5. In apparatus for opening packs; means ranged to act; upon the packs subsequently; for crimpin the packs consisting of a pair thereto; substantially as described. I of die bloc 5' having corrugated working In testimony whereof, I have hereunto setfaces, means for reciprocating at least one my hand.

5 of said die blocks toward and away from the other, means for feeding the-Jacks to Witnesses: the action oi the die blocks, and attening CLAIR KELLY,

. rolls arranged behind the die blocks and ar- C. KIMBALL.

' CHARLES W. EBAY; 

